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Instructional Methods: Is there a difference between long-term and short-term aims and objectives of education?

Chapter 3

Aims and Objectives in Education

3a(ii).Differentiate between long-term and short-term aims and objectives of education.

Objectives can either be long-term or short-term. Long term objectives are those related to education in general and even at different levels of educational system and specific subjects in the curriculum. The short-term objectives, on the other hand, state what the teacher aims at achieving while handling a given topic or a series of topics.

A. Discuss the importance of instructional objectives

These are very specific objectives which forecast on what the teacher intends the students to do at the end of 40 or 80 minutes. They describe what one can do as a result of having learnt and what an observer can see the learner doing in order that he/she can judge whether or not learning has been successfully achieved.

They are important in any instruction because they:

Provide a guide for choosing subject matter (content) to be taught;

Guide in the selection of material, resources to be used;

Guide in designing appropriate teaching methods;

Provide standards of measuring student’s achievement; and

Help provide feedback to the teacher and the learner about the observed behavior.